Meet Nicole & Melissa

Brooklyn-based creatives Melissa Deckert and Nicole Licht marry qualities of traditional design and fine arts to create their collaborative creative studio, Party Of One. Contributing their vast talents and experiences to their clients, Party Of One personalizes their services, stimulating a creative journey beginning from “conception to production”. Their photo-based visual campaigns feature their skills in individualistic design styles, handcrafted props, and unbelievable stylings and sets. With a neverending list of artistic capabilities and a jaw-dropping client list, these are a party of two creatives you’re going to want to check out!

Would you rather…

Get in contact with ghosts or aliens? What would you say?

Melissa: This is a big juicy question that I have a lot of thoughts on, but in short, aliens. I think ghosts/spirits are already around us all the time and we can choose to connect or not. In either case, I would ask them to tell me what I need to know.

Nicole: Ghosts, there are some people I’d like to reconnect with, and generally I’d like to learn more about that interim consciousness.

Some Questions With Nicole & Melissa

What is the creative dynamic between the two of you?

Melissa: With the studio, we are both very involved in the creative development of every project and (over the course of 4 years with PO1 and 9 years working together) have settled into a pretty intuitive way of working together. We both have specific parts of the process we gravitate towards, which helps us split off naturally after a project’s initial brainstorm/concept phase.

What has been your favorite recent collaboration? Why?

Melissa: The New York Times, Art in Isolation piece we submitted during the height of Covid in 2020 comes to mind. We were both quarantined at home and had to develop a new way of working together, while apart, which was very vulnerable and new. Our states of mind were also a little dark then, so the subject matter and articulation of the imagery feels very unique to that moment. At the time, I found this project very challenging and didn’t know how I felt about the final product. Looking back, the looseness and imperfection seems very appropriate.

Nicole: I too loved this project for all the reasons Melissa mentioned but also because our norm is to be completely collaborative from the onset of a project, with this and a new experimental way of working—passing files back and forth without a lot of discussions, the results read like a more pure mix of our two distinct styles and interests rather than a blend. I enjoyed the challenge.

What makes a project successful for you?

Melissa: When we are just as happy as our clients about the outcome of a project! Smooth communication and creative growth are also great markers for success in my book.

Where did you grow up? Did it shape what you are making today?

Melissa: I grew up in Austin, Texas, and moved to New York for college when I was 18. Austin has a kitchy and (self-proclaimed) ‘weird’ aesthetic, so that may have had some eclectic manifestations in me as I cobbled together a creative identity. After spending so much time here, many of those influences have been replaced and refined by my own voice, and Party of One’s. But, the idea of a closet full of odd props, thrifted items, and scrap materials (which we have) is a very Austin vibe.

Nicole: I grew up for the most in Wellesley, Massachusetts, and moved to New York when I was 18. Wellesley is a pretty suburb, 20 minutes outside of Boston. My parents were born and bred New Yorkers so my family was always a bit mismatched there. I grew up rebelling, hanging out, and going to punk and hardcore shows in Boston every chance I got. A DIY aesthetic, dark sense of humor, and being comfy a little out of step with the norm stuck with me.

What is the best thing about doing creative work in Brooklyn?

Melissa: Brooklyn has a great community of artists, designers, and makers that are all pushing to make their best work, which pushes you to do the same. There is also never a shortage of people to commiserate and collaborate with. Plus, the resources! The food! The specialty stores!

What advice do you have for creatives looking to make a start in NYC?

Melissa: It’s not cheap, but you can charge more.

Nicole: So many parallel lives/paths exist in New York City, explore that.

If you were running for mayor of New York, what would your slogan be?

Both: For the many, not the few, and may all your dreams come true.

Any final comments? (This is your electronic soapbox for one last answer.)

Both: Thanks for reading, we’re happy to be here.

Nicole & Melissa the minds behind Party Of One studio